Modernism: Evolution of an Idea

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What exactly is modernism And how and why has its definition changed over time Modernism: Evolution of an Idea is the first book to trace the development of the term modernism from cultural debates in the early twentieth century to the dynamic contemporary field of modernist studies. Rather than assuming and recounting the contributions of modernisms chief literary and artistic figures, this book focuses on critical formulations and reception through topics such as: - The evolution of modernism from a pejorative term in intellectual arguments, through its condemnation by Pope Pius X in 1907, and on to its subsequent centrality to definitions of new art by T. S. Eliot, Laura Riding and Robert Graves, F. R. Leavis, Edmund Wilson, and Clement Greenberg - New Criticism and its legacies in the formation of the modernist canon in anthologies, classrooms, and literary histories - The shifting conceptions of modernism during the rise of gender and race studies, French theory, Marxist criticism, postmodernism, and more - The New Modernist Studies and its contemporary engagements with the politics, institutions, and many cultures of modernism internationally With a glossary of key terms and movements and a capacious critical bibliography, this is an essential survey for students and scholars working in modernist studies at all levels.

Reviews

The field of modernist studies consists in large part of debates over how the field should be defined[This book] is an elegant, lucid, and helpful introduction to the field of modernist studies. Yet and to its very great creditit does not shy away from the definitional problems I have described but weaves them into a clear articulation of the difficulties and contradictions at the heart of modernism as a project and as a field. * Twentieth-Century Literature *
Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers. * CHOICE *
Sean Latham and Gayle Rogers offer a perfectly timed history that will be of immediate interest to anyone who studies modernism and twentieth-century literary history They offer a succinct, often fascinating account of how and why it has become impossible to offer a tidy definition of modernism The picture that emerges from Latham and Rogerss narrative is one of incredible complexity and variety With this condensed, lucid, compelling history, Latham and Rogers enable their readers to learn what has been accomplished in the last century of interrogating modernism and then discover what tasks remain. Because of the significant critical generosity that underwrites this study, we can conclude, with Pound, Latham, and Rogers, that there is still much to do. * James Joyce Quarterly *
An ambitious project tracing the evolution of the term modernism from a cultural buzzword to a consolidated signifier of a particular set of artistic conventions and works It would not be surprising to see this study on any modernists bookshelf. * Make It New (The Ezra Pound Society) *
An excellent account of the development of the idea of Modernism, with a useful glossary and a very good critical bibliography. * Ian Patterson, University of Cambridge, UK *
The writers display deep and wide expertise as they move nimbly over more than a centurys worth of fraught material. They offer students and colleagues a thorough overview of the debates that have constituted the field they call "modernist studies." * boundary 2 *
An engaging introduction to the fraught history of modernism as a critical and aesthetic category, the book makes a substantive case for the lability of its subject ... This is disciplinary historiography at its most lucid, and the narrative weaves introduce readers to or reminds them of an impressive number of arguments without ever feeling rushed, over-stuffed, or, most importantly, tangential ... Latham and Rogers append an extensive critical bibliography of significant works in modernist studies, which should prove invaluable to students and early researchers looking for direction in navigating such a diverse field. The detail of this apparatus speaks to the utility of Modernism as a whole, a book that should become a staple in modernist classrooms and dissertation reading lists for the foreseeable future. * The Year's Work in English Studies *
Latham and Rogers succeed in providing in the four chapters of their book an excellent introduction to the shifting conceptualizations and criticisms of modernism in literary and artistic debates. * Contributions to the History of Concepts *
Admirably, the authors manage to produce not only a survey of the terms complex trajectory, but one laced with important critical contentions ... Latham and Rogerss analyses make their book far more than just an introductory survey. * Textual Practice *

Author Bio

Sean Latham is Pauline Walter Endowed Chair of English and Comparative Literature and director of the Oklahoma Center for the Humanities. He is editor of the James Joyce Quarterly, co-founder of the Modernist Journals Project. His teaching and research focuses on modernist studies, James Joyce, periodicals, media theory, and the digital humanities. He is the author or editor of nine books including Am I a Snob: Modernism and the Novel (Cornell University Press, 2003), The Art of Scandal: Modernism, Libel Law, and the Roman Clef (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), and The Little Review Ulysses (New York: Yale University Press, 2015). Gayle Rogers is Professor of English at the University of Pittsburgh, USA. He works primarily on global modernisms, literary history, translation, comparative literature, and periodicals. His publications include Incomparable Empires: Modernism and the Translation of Spanish and American Literature (2016), Modernism and the New Spain: Britain, Cosmopolitan Europe, and Literary History (2012), and a number of works in PMLA, Modernism/Modernity, Comparative Literature, NOVEL, Journal of Modern Literature, James Joyce Quarterly, The Oxford Handbook of Global Modernisms, Journal of Modern Periodical Studies, Modern Fiction Studies, Revista de Estudios Orteguianos, and 100 Escritores del siglo XX.